Vehicle, notification system, notification method, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium stored with a notification program

ABSTRACT

A vehicle that is configured to: acquire information relating to a remaining charge of a battery of a terminal configured to act as a digital key employed in control of a vehicle; and perform a predetermined notification in response to both of a determination being made that the remaining charge of the battery of the terminal is a predetermined threshold or lower based on the acquired information, and the vehicle being in a preset vehicle state.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2021-161766 filed on Sep. 30, 2021, thedisclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle, a notification system, anotification method, and a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium stored with a notification program.

Related Art

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2021-120530 discloses adigital key system in which vehicle control such as locking andunlocking of vehicle doors is implemented by operation of an informationprocessing device such as a smartphone capable of acting as a digitalkey.

In such digital key systems, if a battery of the information processingdevice such as a smartphone capable of acting as a digital key goesflat, the vehicle cannot be controlled, and so there is a need toforestall the battery of the information processing device going flat.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure is a vehicle, that includes: amemory; and a processor coupled to the memory, the processor beingconfigured to: acquire information relating to a remaining charge of abattery of a terminal configured to act as a digital key employed incontrol of a vehicle; and perform a predetermined notification inresponse to both of a determination being made that the remaining chargeof the battery of the terminal is a predetermined threshold or lowerbased on the acquired information, and the vehicle being in a presetvehicle state.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a schematicconfiguration of a notification system;

FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating an example of an external appearanceof a smartphone;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of asmartphone, a collation ECU, and a digital key control ECU;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of notification settingsprocessing executed by a smartphone;

FIG. 5 is an image illustrating an example of a notification settingsscreen displayed on a smartphone;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of transmission processingexecuted by a smartphone;

FIG. 7 is a line graph illustrating an example of remaining charge of abattery of a smartphone and warning output timings;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing executed bya digital key control ECU, and collation ECU, and a meter display unitin cases in which a notification of a low battery remaining charge hasbeen received from a smartphone; and

FIG. 9 is an image illustrating an example of a warning displayed on ameter display.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Detailed explanation follows regarding an example of an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure, with reference to the drawings. Anotification system 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a vehicle 50installed with an onboard system 52, and a smartphone 20 possessed by auser who utilizes the vehicle 50. Note that the smartphone 20 is anexample of an information processing device corresponding to a terminalof the present disclosure.

The smartphone 20 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 22, andmemory 24 such as read only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM).The smartphone 20 also includes a non-volatile storage section 26 suchas a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), a firstwireless communication section 28 that oversees wireless communicationwith a server etc., and a second wireless communication section 30 thatoversees wireless communication (wireless communication following astandard such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)) with the vehicle 50 side.The smartphone 20 also includes a touch panel 32 (see FIG. 2 also), anda battery remaining charge detection section 33 that detects a remainingcharge of a battery inbuilt in the smartphone 20. The CPU 22 serving asan example of a hardware processor, the memory 24, the storage section26 (which may be referred to as memory), the first wirelesscommunication section 28, the second wireless communication section 30,the touch panel 32, and the battery remaining charge detection section33 are connected so as to be capable of communicating with one anotherthrough an internal bus 34.

In the present exemplary embodiment, a digital key application program36 and digital key information for causing the smartphone 20 to act as adigital key are downloaded to the smartphone 20 from the server, andpre-stored (installed) in the storage section 26. By employing thisdigital key application program 36 and the digital key information, thesmartphone 20 can be made to act as a digital key.

Thus, in cases in which a user borrows the vehicle 50 from an owner ofthe vehicle 50, there is no need for the owner of the vehicle 50 tophysically hand their smart key over the user, and the user is able toshare use of the key of the vehicle 50 simply by the exchange ofelectronic information, even if the user is located at a remotelocation. As merit for the owner of the vehicle 50 also, since thesmartphone 20 can be made to act as a digital key, the owner does notneed to take out their smart key if they have their smartphone 20 whileout and about.

Note that since pairing is executed between the smartphone 20 and thevehicle 50 side, pairing information is also stored in the storagesection 26.

The digital key application program 36 is read from the storage section26 and expanded in the memory 24, and the digital key applicationprogram 36 expanded in the memory 24 is loaded and executed by the CPU22. The smartphone 20 thereby functions as a settings section 42 and atransmission section 44 illustrated in FIG. 3 .

The settings section 42 displays a notification settings screen on thetouch panel 32 of the smartphone 20, and causes the user of thesmartphone 20 to set a battery remaining charge threshold as anotification target and vehicle state information for notifying of adrop in the battery remaining charge (described in detail later).

The transmission section 44 transmits information relating to theremaining charge of the battery to the vehicle 50 in cases in which adetermination is made that a battery remaining charge B of thesmartphone 20 has fallen to a first threshold or lower. The transmissionsection 44 also transmits the battery remaining charge-relatedinformation to the vehicle 50 in cases in which a determination is madethat the battery remaining charge that was once the first threshold orlower and then recovered to a second threshold higher than the firstthreshold has again fallen to the first threshold or lower. On the otherhand, the transmission section 44 does not transmit the batteryremaining charge-related information to the vehicle 50 in cases in whicha determination is made that the battery remaining charge that was oncethe first threshold or lower has again fallen to the first threshold orlower without first recovering to the second threshold.

The onboard system 52 includes a system bus 54. A collation electroniccontrol unit (ECU) 56, a digital key control ECU 70, onboard equipment94, and a meter display unit 94 are connected so as to be capable ofcommunicating with one another through the system bus 54.

The onboard equipment 94 includes equipment such as a door lockingdevice and a back door (or trunk) opening/closing device as equipmentinstalled in the vehicle 50 that is controllable by the smartphone 20.The onboard equipment 94 also includes equipment such as a shift deviceand a vehicle speed sensor as equipment that outputs vehiclestate-related information.

The collation ECU 56 includes a CPU 57, memory 58 such as ROM and RAM,and a non-volatile storage section 60 such as an HDD or an SSD. Thecollation ECU 56 also includes a wireless communication section 62 thatoversees wireless communication with the smart key possessed by theowner of the vehicle 50 and compatible with the vehicle 50, and acommunication section 64 that oversees communication through the systembus 54. The CPU 57 serving as an example of a hardware processor, thememory 58, the storage section 60 (which may be referred to as memory),the wireless communication section 62, and the communication section 64are connected so as to be capable of communicating with one anotherthrough an internal bus 66.

A collation program 68 is pre-stored in the storage section 60. Thecollation program 68 is read from the storage section 60 and expanded inthe memory 58, and the collation program 68 expanded in the memory 58 isloaded and executed by the CPU 57. The collation ECU 56 therebyfunctions as part of a determination section 92 and part of anotification section 90 illustrated in FIG. 3 . The collation ECU 56acquires information such as the shift position and vehicle speed as thevehicle state-related information from equipment such as the shiftdevice and the vehicle speed sensor of the onboard equipment 94, thesebeing examples of equipment that output the vehicle state-relatedinformation.

The digital key control ECU 70 includes a CPU 72, memory 74 such as ROMand RAM, a non-volatile storage section 76 such as an HDD or an SSD, awireless communication section 78 that oversees wireless communicationwith the smartphone 20, and a communication section 80 that overseescommunication through the system bus 54. The CPU 72, the memory 74, thestorage section 76, the wireless communication section 78, and thecommunication section 80 are connected so as to be capable ofcommunicating with one another through an internal bus 82.

A digital key control program 84 is pre-stored in the storage section76. The digital key control program 84 is read from the storage section76 and expanded in the memory 74, and the digital key control program 84expanded in the memory 74 is loaded and executed by the CPU 72. Thedigital key control ECU 70 thereby functions as an acquisition section88, and also functions as part of the determination section 92 and partof the notification section 90 illustrated in FIG. 3 .

The acquisition section 88 acquires information relating to theremaining charge of the battery of the smartphone 20 that is capable ofacting as a digital key employed in control of the vehicle 50. Thedetermination section 92 determines whether or not the vehicle 50 is ina preset vehicle state based on the vehicle state-related informationacquired from the equipment such as the shift device and the vehiclespeed sensor. The notification section 90 performs a predeterminednotification in cases in which a determination is made that the batteryremaining charge B of the smartphone 20 is a predetermined threshold orlower based on the information acquired by the acquisition section 88,and a determination is also made by the determination section 92 thatthe vehicle 50 is in the preset vehicle state.

Note that the collation program 68 stored in the storage section 60 ofthe collation ECU 56 and the digital key control program 84 stored inthe non-volatile storage section 76 of the digital key control ECU 70are examples of a notification program according to the presentdisclosure.

The meter display unit 94 includes a meter display 96 and a buzzer 98. Adisplay on the meter display 96 is switched and the buzzer 98 is soundedin response to an instruction from the collation ECU 56. Note that anexample of a display on the meter display 96 is illustrated in FIG. 9 .

Next, explanation follows regarding notification settings processingexecuted by the smartphone 20 in cases in which an instruction has beenmade to execute settings relating to notification regarding thesmartphone 20 when the remaining charge of the battery has dropped,serving as operation of the present exemplary embodiment, initially withreference to FIG. 4 . At step 150 of the notification settingsprocessing, the settings section 42 displays a notification settingsscreen 100 such as that illustrated in FIG. 5 as an example on the touchpanel 32.

As illustrated in FIG. 5 , in the present exemplary embodiment there aretwo thresholds serving as thresholds defining a drop in the batteryremaining charge, these being Bth1 and Bth2 (as an example, Bth1=20% andBth2=10%). Toggle switches 102A, 102B that enable selection as towhether or not to set the respective thresholds Bth1, Bth2 asnotification targets for a drop in the remaining charge are provided onthe notification settings screen 100. In the present exemplaryembodiment, options to either “Only notify when vehicle is stationary”or “Always notify” are selectable as vehicle states for notifying of adrop in the battery remaining charge in cases in which the batteryremaining charge B has fallen to the threshold Bth or lower that hasbeen set as the notification target. Dropdown menus 104A, 104B thatenable selection of either vehicle state for notifying of a drop in thebattery remaining charge are respectively provided for the thresholdsBth1, Bth2 on the notification settings screen 100. Note that in thepresent exemplary embodiment, as a default, both thresholds Bth1, Bth2are set as notification targets of a drop in the battery remainingcharge, and the option to “Only notify when vehicle is stationary” isset as the vehicle state for notifying of the drop in the batteryremaining charge in both cases; however, there is no limitation thereto.

At step 152, the settings section 42 determines whether or not thesettings relating to notification when the battery remaining charge hasdropped performed through the notification settings screen 100 iscomplete. A button 106 that is tapped when the settings relating tonotification when the battery remaining charge has dropped are completeis provided on the notification settings screen 100, and thedetermination of step 152 corresponds to a determination as to whetheror not this button 106 has been tapped. In cases in which a negativedetermination is made at step 152, the processing of step 152 isrepeated until an affirmative determination is made.

In cases in which the button 106 has been tapped after the settingsrelating to notification when the battery remaining charge has droppedare complete, an affirmative determination is made at step 152 andprocessing transitions to step 154. At step 154, the settings section 42stores information relating to the notification when the batteryremaining charge has dropped set through the notification settingsscreen 100, namely, the corresponding threshold Bth serving as thenotification target for the drop in the battery remaining charge and thevehicle state for notifying of the drop in the battery remaining charge,in the storage section 26 as settings information 40 (see FIG. 1 ), andends the notification settings processing.

Next, explanation follows regarding transmission processing performed bythe smartphone 20 while the digital key application program 36 is beingexecuted by the smartphone 20, with reference to FIG. 6 . At step 160,the transmission section 44 sets both a flag 1 and a flag 2 to 0. Atstep 162, the transmission section 44 reads the settings information 40from the storage section 26.

At step 164, the transmission section 44 acquires the battery remainingcharge B from the battery remaining charge detection section 33. At step166, the transmission section 44 determines whether or not the batteryremaining charge threshold Bth1 has been set as a notification targetfor a drop in the battery remaining charge in the settings information40. In cases in which the battery remaining charge threshold Bth1 hasnot been set as a notification target for a drop in the batteryremaining charge, a negative determination is made at step 166 andprocessing transitions to step 182. In cases in which the batteryremaining charge threshold Bth1 has been set as a notification targetfor a drop in the battery remaining charge, an affirmative determinationis made at step 166 and processing transitions to step 168.

At step 168, the transmission section 44 determines whether or not theflag 1 has been set to 1. In cases in which a negative determination ismade at step 168, processing transitions to step 174. At step 174, thetransmission section 44 determines whether or not the battery remainingcharge B is the battery remaining charge threshold Bth1 or lower. Incases in which a negative determination is made at step 174, processingtransitions to step 182. On the other hand, in cases in which thebattery remaining charge B has dropped to the battery remaining chargethreshold Bth1 or lower, an affirmative determination is made at step174, and processing transitions to step 176.

At step 176, the transmission section 44 determines whether or not theflag 1 is at 0. In cases in which an affirmative determination is madeat step 176, processing transitions to step 178. At step 178, thetransmission section 44 transmits low battery remaining chargeinformation indicating that the battery remaining charge is low, andinformation indicating the vehicle state that is the notification targetfor the battery remaining charge threshold Bthl, to the digital keycontrol ECU 70. At step 180, the transmission section 44 sets the flag 1to 1, and displays a warning on the touch panel 32 to recommend chargingthe smartphone 20.

In cases in which the flag 1 has been set to 1 in the above manner, anaffirmative determination is made at step 168 of the above-describedprocessing, and processing transitions to step 170. At step 170, thetransmission section 44 determines whether or not the battery remainingcharge B has reached or exceeded a value that is a sum of the batteryremaining charge threshold Bth1 and a predetermined value α (such as10%). Note that in the transmission processing of FIG. 6 , the batteryremaining charge threshold Bth1 is an example of a first threshold ofthe present disclosure, and “Bth1+α” is an example of a second thresholdof the present disclosure.

In cases in which a negative determination is made at step 170,processing transitions to step 174. In such cases, since the flag 1 ismaintained as it is at 1, even in cases in which the battery remainingcharge B then drops to the battery remaining charge threshold Bthl orlower and an affirmative determination is made at step 174, a negativedetermination is made at step 176, and so the low battery remainingcharge information etc. is not transmitted.

On the other hand, in cases in which an affirmative determination ismade at step 170, processing transitions to step 172. At step 172, thetransmission section 44 sets the flag 1 to 0, and processing transitionsto step 174. In such cases, in cases in which the battery remainingcharge B then drops to the battery remaining charge threshold Bth1 orlower, an affirmative determination is made is made at both steps 174and 176, and so the low battery remaining charge information etc. istransmitted.

Next, explanation follows regarding the processing of step 182 onward ofthe transmission processing illustrated in FIG. 6 . At step 182, thetransmission section 44 determines whether or not the battery remainingcharge threshold Bth2 has been set has been set as a notification targetfor a drop in the battery remaining charge in the settings information40. In cases in which the battery remaining charge threshold Bth2 hasnot been set as a notification target for a drop in the batteryremaining charge, a negative determination is made at step 182 andprocessing returns to step 164. In cases in which the battery remainingcharge threshold Bth2 has been set as a notification target for a dropin the battery remaining charge, an affirmative determination is made atstep 182 and processing transitions to step 184.

At step 184, the transmission section 44 determines whether or not theflag 2 has been set to 1. In cases in which a negative determination ismade at step 184, processing transitions to step 190. At step 190, thetransmission section 44 determines whether or not the battery remainingcharge B is the battery remaining charge threshold Bth2 or lower. Incases in which a negative determination is made at step 190, processingreturns to step 164. On the other hand, in cases in which the batteryremaining charge B has dropped to the battery remaining charge thresholdBth2 or lower, an affirmative determination is made at step 190 andprocessing transitions to step 192.

At step 192, the transmission section 44 determines whether or not theflag 2 is at 0. In cases in which an affirmative determination is madeat step 192, processing transitions to step 194. At step 194, thetransmission section 44 transmits low battery remaining chargeinformation and information indicating the vehicle state that is thenotification target for the battery remaining charge threshold Bth2 tothe digital key control ECU 70. At step 196, the transmission section 44sets the flag 2 to 1, and displays a warning on the touch panel 32 torecommend charging the smartphone 20.

In cases in which the flag 2 is set to 1 in the above manner, anaffirmative determination is made at step 184 of the above-describedprocessing, and processing transitions to step 186. At step 186, thetransmission section 44 determines whether or not the battery remainingcharge B has reached or exceeded a value that is a sum of the batteryremaining charge threshold Bth2 and the predetermined value a (such as10%). Note that in the transmission processing of FIG. 6 , the batteryremaining charge threshold Bth2 is an example of the first threshold ofthe present disclosure, and “Bth2+α” is an example of the secondthreshold of the present disclosure.

In cases in which a negative determination is made at step 186,processing transitions to step 190. In such cases, since the flag 2 ismaintained as it is at 1, even in cases in which the battery remainingcharge B then drops to the battery remaining charge threshold Bth2 orlower and an affirmative determination is made at step 190, a negativedetermination is made at step 192, and so the low battery remainingcharge information etc. is not transmitted.

On the other hand, in cases in which an affirmative determination ismade at step 186, processing transitions to step 188. At step 188, thetransmission section 44 sets the flag 2 to 0 and processing transitionsto step 190. In such cases, in cases in which the battery remainingcharge B then drops to the battery remaining charge threshold Bth2 orlower, an affirmative determination is made is made at both steps 190and 192, and so the low battery remaining charge information etc. istransmitted.

Further explanation follows regarding operation of the above-describedtransmission processing, with reference to FIG. 7 . Note that FIG. 7illustrates a case in which both the battery remaining charge thresholdBth1 (=20%) and the battery remaining charge threshold Bth2 (=10%) areset as notification targets for a drop in remaining charge. In FIG. 7 ,the predetermined value α=10%.

During the transition of the battery remaining charge B illustrated inFIG. 7 , first, the battery remaining charge B drops from approximately25% to 20% (=threshold Bth1) or lower. This corresponds to a case inwhich the battery remaining charge B has dropped to the threshold Bth1or lower a first time, and so the flag 1 is still at 0. Thus, the lowbattery remaining charge information etc. is transmitted as indicated bythe notation “(1) ISSUE WARNING” in FIG. 7 . The flag 1 is set to 1 atthis time.

During the transition of the battery remaining charge B illustrated inFIG. 7 , next, the battery is charged, and so the battery remainingcharge B temporarily recovers to 30% (=threshold Bth1+predeterminedvalue α) or higher, after which the battery remaining charge B againdrops to 20% (=threshold Bth1) or lower. When this occurs, the flag 1 isagain set to 0 as a result of the battery remaining charge B temporarilyrecovering to 30% or higher. Thus, the low battery remaining chargeinformation etc. is transmitted as indicated by the notation “(2) ISSUEWARNING” in FIG. 7 . The flag 1 is set to 1 at this time.

During the transition of the battery remaining charge B illustrated inFIG. 7 , next, although the battery has been charged, the batteryremaining charge B again drops to 20% (=threshold Bth1) or lower withoutthe battery remaining charge B first recovering to 30% (=thresholdBth1+predetermined value α) or higher. When this occurs, the batteryremaining charge B has not recovered to 30% or higher, and so the flag 1is still at 1. Thus, the low battery remaining charge information etc.is not transmitted, as indicated by the notation “(3) DO NOT ISSUEWARNING” in FIG. 7 . This enables the low battery remaining chargeinformation, etc. to be suppressed from being consecutively transmittedon frequent occasions in cases in which the battery remaining charge Bis fluctuating in the vicinity of 20% (=threshold Bth1) during thetransmission processing of FIG. 6 .

During the transition of the battery remaining charge B illustrated inFIG. 7 , next, the battery remaining charge B drops to 10% (=thresholdBth2) or lower. This corresponds to a case in which the batteryremaining charge B has dropped to the threshold Bth2 or lower a firsttime, and so the flag 2 is still at 0. Thus, the low battery remainingcharge information etc. is transmitted as indicated by the notation “(4)ISSUE WARNING” in FIG. 7 .

Next, explanation follows regarding processing performed by the digitalkey control ECU 70, the collation ECU 56, and the meter display unit 94,with reference to FIG. 8 .

The digital key control ECU 70 performs low battery remaining chargenotification-stage processing illustrated in FIG. 8 on receiving the lowbattery remaining charge information and the information indicating thevehicle state for notifying of the drop in the battery remaining chargefrom the smartphone 20. At step 200 of the low battery remaining chargenotification-stage processing, the acquisition section 88 acquiresinformation relating to the current vehicle state (such as the shiftposition and vehicle speed) from the collation ECU 56.

At step 202, the determination section 92 determines whether or not thecurrent vehicle state indicated in the information acquired at step 200corresponds to the vehicle state for notifying of a drop in the batteryremaining charge. For example, in cases in which the vehicle state fornotifying of a drop in the battery remaining charge is “only notify whenvehicle is stationary”, an affirmative determination is made at step 202in cases in which the shift position is a P range and the vehicle speedis 0. Alternatively, in cases in which the vehicle state for notifyingof a drop in the battery remaining charge is “always notify”, anaffirmative determination is made is made at step 202 unconditionally.

In cases in which an affirmative determination is made at step 202,processing transitions to step 204. At step 204, the notificationsection 90 of the digital key control ECU 70 transmits a battery dropwarning request to the collation ECU 56, and ends the low batteryremaining charge notification-stage processing. On the other hand, incases in which a negative determination is made at step 202, theprocessing of step 204 is skipped and the low battery remaining chargenotification-stage processing is ended.

On receiving the battery drop warning request from the digital keycontrol ECU 70, the collation ECU 56 performs warning requestreception-stage processing illustrated in FIG. 8 . At step 208 of thiswarning request reception-stage processing, the notification section 90of the collation ECU 56 transmits a battery drop warning display requestto the meter display unit 94, and ends the warning requestreception-stage processing.

On receiving the battery drop warning display request from the collationECU 56, at step 212 in FIG. 8 , the meter display unit 94 sounds thebuzzer 98 and displays a warning message on the meter display 96 torecommend charging the battery of the smartphone 20. The user is therebyrecommended to charge the battery of the smartphone 20. A notation suchas “Smartphone battery is low. Please charge.” (see FIG. 9 also) may beemployed as an example of the warning message. The warning message isnot limited to English language and may be in other languages.

As described above, the vehicle 50 according to the present exemplaryembodiment includes the acquisition section 88 and the notificationsection 90. The acquisition section 88 acquires information relating tothe remaining charge of the battery of the smartphone 20 that is capableof acting as a digital key employed in control of the vehicle 50. Thenotification section 90 performs predetermined notification in cases inwhich both a determination is made that the battery remaining charge ofthe smartphone 20 is the predetermined threshold or lower based on thebattery remaining charge-related information for the smartphone 20 asacquired by the acquisition section 88 and the vehicle 50 is in thepreset vehicle state. This enables a prompt for caution relating to thebattery of the smartphone 20 going flat to be made at a suitable timing.

Moreover, in the present exemplary embodiment, the vehicle state ispreset through the smartphone 20, and the acquisition section 88acquires the information indicating the preset vehicle state from thesmartphone 20. This enables a prompt for caution relating to the batteryof the smartphone 20 going flat to be made at an even more suitabletiming.

Moreover, the vehicle 50 according to the present exemplary embodimentalso includes the determination section 92 that determines whether ornot the vehicle 50 is in the preset vehicle state. This enables a promptfor caution relating to the battery of the smartphone 20 going flat tobe made at an even more suitable timing.

Moreover, in the present exemplary embodiment, the acquisition section88 acquires the information from the smartphone 20 through communicationfollowing the BLE standard. This enables an ordinary smartphone to beemployed as the information processing device.

Moreover, in the present exemplary embodiment, the notification section90 sounds the buzzer as the predetermined notification. The user therebyreceives an audible stimulus, thereby enabling a prompt for cautionrelating to the battery of the smartphone 20 going flat to be made at asuitable timing.

Moreover, in the present exemplary embodiment, the notification section90 also displays a warning on the meter display to recommend chargingthe smartphone 20 as the predetermined notification. The user therebyreceives a visual stimulus, thereby enabling a prompt for cautionrelating to the battery of the smartphone 20 thereby enabling a promptfor caution relating to the battery of the smartphone 20 going flat tobe made at a suitable timing to be made at a suitable timing.

Moreover, in the present exemplary embodiment, the smartphone 20includes the transmission section 44 that transmits the batteryremaining charge-related information to the vehicle 50 in cases in whicha determination is made that the battery remaining charge of thesmartphone 20 has fallen to the first threshold or lower. Thetransmission section 44 also transmits the battery remainingcharge-related information to the vehicle 50 in cases in which adetermination is made that the battery remaining charge that was oncethe first threshold or lower and then recovered to the second thresholdhigher than the first threshold has again fallen to the first thresholdor lower. On the other hand, the transmission section 44 does nottransmit the battery remaining charge-related information to the vehicle50 in cases in which a determination is made that the battery remainingcharge that was once the first threshold or lower has again fallen tothe first threshold or lower without first recovering to the secondthreshold. This enables the notification by the notification section 90to be suppressed from being consecutively performed on frequentoccasions in cases in which the battery remaining charge of thesmartphone 20 is fluctuating in the vicinity of the first threshold.

Note that in the above exemplary embodiment a case has been described inwhich the smartphone 20 serves as an example of the informationprocessing device of the present disclosure. However, the informationprocessing device of the present disclosure is not limited to a formatin which the touch panel 32 (display section) on which the notificationsettings screen is displayed is housed in the same casing as the CPU 22,the memory 24, the non-volatile storage section 26, etc., as in thesmartphone 20. For example, in the information processing deviceaccording to the present disclosure, a display section on which thenotification settings screen is displayed may be provided separately toa casing that houses the CPU 22, the memory 24, the non-volatile storagesection 26, etc. In such cases, the display section may be configured bysmart glasses or the like.

Moreover, in the above exemplary embodiment a case has been described inwhich the communication between the smartphone 20 and the vehicle 50side (the digital key control ECU 70) is wireless communicationfollowing the BLE standard. However, the wireless communication is notlimited to the BLE standard, and wireless communication may be performedfollowing another standard, such as Wi-Fi (registered trademark).

Furthermore, in the above exemplary embodiment a format has beendescribed in which the vehicle state for notifying a drop in the batteryremaining charge is selectable from two options, these being “Onlynotify when vehicle is stationary” and “Always notify”. However, thepresent disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, “Only notifywhen the vehicle speed is less than a threshold” may be added to theoptions as an example of a vehicle state for notifying a drop in thebattery remaining charge.

Furthermore, in the above exemplary embodiment a format has beendescribed in which the vehicle 50 side is notified at a timing when thebattery remaining charge B has fallen to equal to or lower than thebattery remaining charge threshold Bth that is the notification target;however, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, thevehicle 50 side may be notified of the battery remaining chargethreshold Bth in advance, and the vehicle 50 side may also beperiodically notified of the battery remaining charge B serving as thebattery remaining charge-related information, such that the vehicle 50side determines whether or not the battery remaining charge B has fallento the battery remaining charge threshold Bth or lower.

Moreover, in the above description a format has been described in whichthe collation program 68 and the digital key control program 84, servingas examples of a notification program according to the presentdisclosure, are pre-stored in the respective storage sections 60, 76.However, a notification program according to the present disclosure maybe provided in a format recorded onto a non-transitory computer-readablerecording medium, such as an HDD, an SSD, or a DVD.

The present disclosure provides a vehicle, a notification system, anotification method, and a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium stored with a notification program that are capable of promptingcaution relating to a battery of an information processing device goingflat at a suitable timing.

A first aspect of the present disclosure is a vehicle, that includes: amemory; and a processor coupled to the memory, the processor beingconfigured to: acquire information relating to a remaining charge of abattery of a terminal configured to act as a digital key employed incontrol of a vehicle; and perform a predetermined notification inresponse to both of a determination being made that the remaining chargeof the battery of the terminal is a predetermined threshold or lowerbased on the acquired information, and the vehicle being in a presetvehicle state.

In the first aspect, the predetermined notification is performed incases in which both a determination is made that the remaining charge ofthe battery of the information processing device is the predeterminedthreshold or lower and the vehicle is in the preset vehicle state. Thisenables a prompt for caution relating to the battery of the informationprocessing device going flat to be made at a suitable timing.

A second aspect of the present disclosure is the vehicle of the firstaspect, wherein: the vehicle state is preset via the terminal; and theprocessor is configured to acquire information indicating the presetvehicle state from the terminal.

In the second aspect, the vehicle state for when to perform thepredetermined notification can be set through the information processingdevice. This enables a prompt for caution relating to the battery of theinformation processing device going flat to be made at an even moresuitable timing.

A third aspect of the present disclosure is the vehicle of the first orthe second aspect, wherein the processor is further configured todetermine whether or not the vehicle is in the preset vehicle state.

In the third aspect, determining whether or not the vehicle is in thepreset vehicle state enables a prompt for caution relating to thebattery of the information processing device going flat to be made at aneven more suitable timing.

A fourth aspect of the present disclosure is the vehicle of any of thefirst to the third aspects, wherein the processor is configured toacquire the information from the terminal via Bluetoothstandard-compliant communications.

Since smartphones are generally installed with a function to performcommunication following the Bluetooth standard, the fourth aspectenables an ordinary smartphone to be employed as the informationprocessing device.

A fifth aspect of the present disclosure is the vehicle of any of thefirst to the fourth aspects, wherein the processor is configured tosound a buzzer as the predetermined notification.

In the fifth aspect, providing an audible stimulus enables a prompt forcaution relating to the battery of the information processing devicegoing flat to be made at a suitable timing.

A sixth aspect of the present disclosure is the vehicle of any of thefirst to the fifth aspects, wherein the processor is configured todisplay a warning on a meter display to recommend charging the terminalas the predetermined notification.

In the sixth aspect, providing a visual stimulus enables a prompt forcaution relating to the battery of the information processing devicegoing flat to be made at a suitable timing.

A seventh aspect of the present disclosure is a notification system,that includes: a terminal configured to act as a digital key employed incontrol of a vehicle; and a vehicle, wherein the vehicle includes: afirst memory; and a first processor coupled to the first memory, thefirst processor being configured to: acquire information relating to aremaining charge of a battery of the terminal; and perform apredetermined notification in response to both of a determination beingmade that the remaining charge of the battery of the terminal is apredetermined threshold or lower based on the acquired information, andthe vehicle being in a preset vehicle state.

In the seventh aspect, a prompt for caution relating to the battery ofthe information processing device going flat can be made at a suitabletiming, similarly to in the first aspect.

An eighth aspect of the present disclosure is the notification system ofthe seventh aspect, wherein: the vehicle state is preset via theterminal; and the first processor is configured to acquire the presetvehicle state from the terminal.

In the eighth aspect, the vehicle state for when to perform thepredetermined notification can be set through the information processingdevice. This enables a prompt for caution relating to the battery of theinformation processing device going flat to be made at an even moresuitable timing.

A ninth aspect of the present disclosure is the notification system ofthe seventh or the eighth aspect, wherein the first processor is furtherconfigured to determine whether or not the vehicle is in the presetvehicle state.

In the ninth aspect, determining whether or not the vehicle is in thepreset vehicle state enables a prompt for caution relating to thebattery of the information processing device going flat to be made at aneven more suitable timing.

A tenth aspect of the present disclosure is the notification system ofany one of the seventh to the ninth aspects, wherein the first processoris configured to acquire the information from the terminal via Bluetoothstandard-compliant communications.

Since smartphones are generally installed with a function to performcommunication following the Bluetooth standard, the tenth aspect enablesan ordinary smartphone to be employed as the information processingdevice.

An eleventh aspect of the present disclosure is the notification systemof any of the seventh to the tenth aspects, wherein the first processoris configured to sound a buzzer as the predetermined notification.

In the eleventh aspect, providing an audible stimulus enables a promptfor caution relating to the battery of the information processing devicegoing flat to be made at a suitable timing.

A twelfth aspect of the present disclosure is the notification system ofany of the seventh to the eleventh aspects, wherein the first processoris configured to display a warning on a meter display to recommendcharging the terminal as the predetermined notification.

In the twelfth aspect, providing a visual stimulus enables a prompt forcaution relating to the battery of the information processing devicegoing flat to be made at a suitable timing.

A thirteenth aspect of the present disclosure is the notification systemof any of the seventh to the twelfth aspects, wherein the terminalincludes: a second memory; and a second processor coupled to the secondmemory, the second processor being configured to: transmit informationrelating to the remaining charge of the battery to the vehicle inresponse to a determination being made that the remaining charge of thebattery has fallen to a first threshold or lower, and also transmit thebattery remaining charge-related information to the vehicle in responseto a determination being made that the remaining charge of the batterythat had once been the first threshold or lower and then recovered to asecond threshold higher than the first threshold has again fallen to thefirst threshold or lower, but not transmit the battery remainingcharge-related information to the vehicle in response to a determinationbeing made that the remaining charge of the battery that had once beenthe first threshold or lower has again fallen to the first threshold orlower without first recovering to the second threshold.

In the thirteenth aspect, notification by the notification section canbe suppressed from being consecutively performed on frequent occasionsin cases in which the remaining charge of the battery of the informationprocessing device is fluctuating in the vicinity of the first threshold.

A fourteenth aspect of the present disclosure is a notification method,that includes: by a processor of a vehicle: acquiring informationrelating to a remaining charge of a battery of a terminal configured toact as a digital key employed in control of the vehicle; and performinga predetermined notification in response to both of a determinationbeing made that the remaining charge of the battery of the terminal is apredetermined threshold or lower based on the acquired information, andthe vehicle being in a preset vehicle state.

In the fourteenth aspect, a prompt for caution relating to the batteryof the information processing device going flat can be made at asuitable timing, similarly to in the first aspect.

A fifteenth aspect of the present disclosure is a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing a notification programexecutable by a computer installed at a vehicle to perform processing,the processing including: acquiring information relating to a remainingcharge of a battery of a terminal configured to act as a digital keyemployed in control of the vehicle; and performing a predeterminednotification in response to both of a determination being made that theremaining charge of the battery of the terminal is a predeterminedthreshold or lower based on the acquired information, and the vehiclebeing in a preset vehicle state.

In the fifteenth aspect, a prompt for caution relating to the battery ofthe information processing device going flat can be made at a suitabletiming, similarly to in the first aspect.

The present disclosure enables a prompt for caution relating to thebattery of the information processing device going flat to be made at asuitable timing.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle, comprising: a memory; and a processorcoupled to the memory, the processor being configured to: acquireinformation relating to a remaining charge of a battery of a terminalconfigured to act as a digital key employed in control of a vehicle; andperform a predetermined notification in response to both of adetermination being made that the remaining charge of the battery of theterminal is a predetermined threshold or lower based on the acquiredinformation, and the vehicle being in a preset vehicle state.
 2. Thevehicle of claim 1, wherein: the vehicle state is preset via theterminal; and the processor is configured to acquire informationindicating the preset vehicle state from the terminal.
 3. The vehicle ofclaim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determinewhether or not the vehicle is in the preset vehicle state.
 4. Thevehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to acquire theinformation from the terminal via Bluetooth standard-compliantcommunications.
 5. The vehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor isconfigured to sound a buzzer as the predetermined notification.
 6. Thevehicle of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to display awarning on a meter display to recommend charging the terminal as thepredetermined notification.
 7. A notification system, comprising: aterminal configured to act as a digital key employed in control of avehicle; and a vehicle, wherein the vehicle includes: a first memory;and a first processor coupled to the first memory, the first processorbeing configured to: acquire information relating to a remaining chargeof a battery of the terminal; and perform a predetermined notificationin response to both of a determination being made that the remainingcharge of the battery of the terminal is a predetermined threshold orlower based on the acquired information, and the vehicle being in apreset vehicle state.
 8. The notification system of claim 7, wherein:the vehicle state is preset via the terminal; and the first processor isconfigured to acquire the preset vehicle state from the terminal.
 9. Thenotification system of claim 7, wherein the first processor is furtherconfigured to determine whether or not the vehicle is in the presetvehicle state.
 10. The notification system of claim 7, wherein the firstprocessor is configured to acquire the information from the terminal viaBluetooth standard-compliant communications.
 11. The notification systemof claim 7, wherein the first processor is configured to sound a buzzeras the predetermined notification.
 12. The notification system of claim7, wherein the first processor is configured to display a warning on ameter display to recommend charging the terminal as the predeterminednotification.
 13. The notification system of claim 7, wherein theterminal includes: a second memory; and a second processor coupled tothe second memory, the second processor being configured to: transmitinformation relating to the remaining charge of the battery to thevehicle in response to a determination being made that the remainingcharge of the battery has fallen to a first threshold or lower, and alsotransmit the battery remaining charge-related information to the vehiclein response to a determination being made that the remaining charge ofthe battery that had once been the first threshold or lower and thenrecovered to a second threshold higher than the first threshold hasagain fallen to the first threshold or lower, but not transmit thebattery remaining charge-related information to the vehicle in responseto a determination being made that the remaining charge of the batterythat had once been the first threshold or lower has again fallen to thefirst threshold or lower without first recovering to the secondthreshold.
 14. A notification method, comprising: by a processor of avehicle: acquiring information relating to a remaining charge of abattery of a terminal configured to act as a digital key employed incontrol of the vehicle; and performing a predetermined notification inresponse to both of a determination being made that the remaining chargeof the battery of the terminal is a predetermined threshold or lowerbased on the acquired information, and the vehicle being in a presetvehicle state.
 15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring a notification program executable by a computer installed at avehicle to perform processing, the processing comprising: acquiringinformation relating to a remaining charge of a battery of a terminalconfigured to act as a digital key employed in control of the vehicle;and performing a predetermined notification in response to both of adetermination being made that the remaining charge of the battery of theterminal is a predetermined threshold or lower based on the acquiredinformation, and the vehicle being in a preset vehicle state.